Christ Inao Oulai camp accused of taking €500,000 from agent Pini Zahavi with no deal agreed

The mother of Ivory Coast international Christ Inao Oulai is alleged to have taken €500,000 from leading football agent Pini Zahavi for her son’s signature without any agreement ultimately being completed, according to French investigative journalist Romain Molina.

Molina, who has previously reported on the separate case involving Senegalese prospect Ibrahim Mbaye, claims Oulai’s mother received the payment from Zahavi as part of a proposed representation arrangement for the 20-year-old forward, but that the deal did not go through.

Oulai, who has 13 caps for Ivory Coast, recently joined Fiorentina after one season at Trabzonspor. Molina reports that his switch to the Serie A club is among the consequences of tensions between his family and agents who believed they had secured his signature.

Claims of multiple payments from agents

Zahavi, 83, is one of the most influential figures in modern football’s transfer industry and heads the agency Gol International, which represents around 50 players including Robert Lewandowski, Leroy Sane and Christopher Nkunku.

The Israeli businessman has been a major player on the market for several decades and was instrumental in Neymar’s 2017 move from Barcelona to Paris St-Germain for €222m, still the highest transfer fee in football history.

Molina alleges that Oulai’s mother not only took €500,000 from Zahavi but also received money from other, unnamed agents who believed they were securing a deal to represent the Ivory Coast international. No identities or further details of those other intermediaries were disclosed.

If the allegations are substantiated, Oulai’s mother could face serious legal and regulatory consequences under rules governing player representation and financial conduct in football.

Neither Zahavi, Gol International, Fiorentina, Trabzonspor, nor Oulai’s family have publicly commented on the claims. No governing body or judicial authority has, at this stage, announced any formal investigation in relation to the case.

Oulai’s rapid rise and big-money move

Oulai completed his transfer to Fiorentina only a few days ago after a single campaign in Turkey with Trabzonspor, who are nicknamed the Bordo-Mavi (Burgundy-Blues).

The fee agreed between Trabzonspor and the Italian club is reported to be €26m. During his season in the Super Lig, Oulai made 31 appearances, starting 27 of those matches, scoring two goals and providing four assists.

At international level, the young forward already has significant experience, having been capped 13 times by Ivory Coast. The article describes the Ivorians as having reached the last 16 of the 2026 World Cup, but that tournament has yet to take place and no such results are currently on record.

The situation surrounding Oulai and his entourage emerges amid heightened scrutiny of the role of agents and intermediaries in the global transfer market, with FIFA and national federations tightening regulations in recent years in an attempt to increase transparency and limit financial abuses.

The allegations reported by Molina add a new layer of controversy to that debate, centring this time on one of the game’s most prominent agents and a rising African talent at the start of his European career.